Improved apparatus for treating hides, skins, and leather



/tatra @gstellt @that L. r. ROBERTSON,` or MoRRisANIA, NEW YORK,

Letters Patent No. 87,203, dated February 23, 1869. i Y v l IMPROVED APPARATUS IIPOIRIREIATING- HIDES, SKINS, AND LEATHER I The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and 'making part of the same..

To all 'whom it may conce/ra Be it known that I, L. F. ROBERTSON, 'of Morrisania, in the county of Westchester, and' State of New York, have invented a new and improved Apparatus for Treating Hides and Skins, and also Leather; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof,\'vhich will enable those skilled in the art to make and-use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which drawing- Figure 1 represents a sectional front elevation of this invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse section thereof.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates 'to an apparatus which is intended for cleaning hides and `skins after liming; also for scouring the same; also for facilitating the operations of greasing, iinishing, and coloring leather, after p the tanning-process has beeircompleted.

My 'invention consists in the arrangement of one or more stampers or handlers, with rounded serrated faces, in combination with a tube or box, provided with a rounded corner, against which the handler or handlers act, in such a manner that hides or skins, introduced into said tube, and placed ou the rounded edge under the handler or handlers, are carried in automatically by the combined action of the serrated faces of the handlers, and of the rounded corner of the tub, and by these means the handlers are caused to act successively on every part of the hides or skins, and thereby lche operations of cleaning, scouring, greasing, finishing, and softening said hides or skins, or the leather prepared therefrom, are materially facilitated.

A represents a tub or box, made of wood, or any other suitable material, and provided with a hinged lid, B, through which the material to be treated is introduced.

One corner, a, of this box is rounded throughout its entire length, and over this rounded corner are placed one or more handlers O, to which a rising and falling motion is imparted, by means of a tappet-shaft, D, the

tappets of which act on roller-toes'b, projecting from the shanks of the handlers, as clearly shown in fig. 2l

of the drawing.

The working-faces of thevhandlers are. serrated and rounded, so that the same, on coming in contact with a hide or skin placed under them, and on the rounded corner of the tub, will cause such hide or skin to ad- Vance automatically under the action of said handlers, and that by these means all its parts will he succes-. sively exposed to the action ofthe handler,

The tappeti-shaft D is turned, by hand, or by any other suitable power, -and a pipe, f, near the t'op of the tub, and'at one end, serves to introduce a current of clean water, while another pipe, g, emanating from the opposite end of the tub,'near its bottom, carries off the water, and the impurities extracted from the hides or skins by the action of the handlers.

By these means, I am enabled to clean hides or skins, after the liming, with great rapidity and economy; also to clean such hides and skins easily and rapidly after they have passed through the 'hating-process. Furthermore, by my apparatus the operations of scouring,-

greasing, and softening the leather, when tanned, are materially facilitated.

The operation isas follows:

I take a number of hides or skins, after the same have been freed from hair and flesh, place them into the tub, close the lid, admit water through the pipe f, start the tappet-shaft D, open' the waste-pipe g, and

vcontinue the operation for about twenty-five or thirty minutes, when the hides or skins are cleaned, and a new batch can be introduced.

Hides or skins, treated as above described, require only a simple batting-process, while the pnre can be omitted'. A

After the betting-process, the hides and skins,- are again, for a short time, introduced intouny apparatus, whereby they are brought into` such a state that the labor required for beaming, smoothing, and stretching the same, will be reduced one-half, and at the same time a better result will be effected.

After the hides or skins have passed through the tanning-process, I introduce the same again into my apparatus, open the supply-pipe f', and start the handlers, and Aafter about ten minutes I open the waste-pipe g,

' and continue the operation ofthe apparatus forabout I thirty minutes.

After the lapse of this time, all 'noxious acids are removed from the leather, rendering the same soft and pliable, so that for the subsequent manipulation, it requires only to be stretched or smoothed on its flesh-side.

For the purpose of greasing harness-leather or calfskins, I also use my vapparatus with greatadvantage, since, by its action, the oil pr grease is made to penetrate the `leather uniformly to the core, so that it dries quickly, and produces a good weight.

My apparatus can also be used for geasing over such leather as has already been greased.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let? ters Patent, is-

The arrangement of a tub, A, with a rounded corner, a, and pipes f g, in combination with one or more handlers G, operated by a tappet-shaft,` D, and provided with serrated faces, substantially as and for the 

